RISMEDIA, Friday, February 08, 2013— In a recent study conducted by the National Association of REALTORS®, it was discovered that 89 percent of all homebuyers purchased their new home with the assistance of a real estate agent or broker.

Ten years earlier, a similar study revealed that only 69 percent of buyers used an agent. While going through the process of looking for and buying a home can be overwhelming, it’s clear to see that consumers have wizened up to the importance of using an experienced professional to find the home of their dreams. After all, buying a home is not like shopping for a new car or television; you need to have someone who is educated and experienced by your side to help you navigate through all the properties and find the one that’s ideal for you.

According to the NAR release, “More than ever, homebuyers are relying on real estate agents and brokers to help them with their home purchase regardless of whether the home they are buying is a foreclosure, short sale, or even a FSBO sale because they need a real estate agent to help them through the process.”

Not only will an agent serve as a friend and confidant, they will also be your biggest ally as they fight to get you the home you want at the best price possible.

Any buyer who decides to take on the job of looking for a home on their own is taking on an enormous amount of work and responsibility. With so many listings on the market today, someone working on their own is at a definite disadvantage when it comes to seamlessly navigating through a real estate transaction.

Those that choose to search for a home without an agent by their side will need to invest enormous amounts of time researching legalities, technicalities in sales contracts, negotiating strategies, comparable properties and the current condition of the local real estate market. Of course, a real estate agent will be current on all of this, plus have a few industry tricks up their sleeve.

While buyers may find some great deals in this market, short sales and foreclosures can cause them to get lost in the process due to the intricacies of the contracts. An agent will know how to handle these items, and more.

An agent can also explain the pros and cons of each house you see, the neighborhoods you look at and provide up-to-date information on the school districts in the area. In addition, they will steer you away from houses that don’t fit your criteria because they understand the lingo better than someone looking on their own. This will save you time and energy.

Real estate agents can also make the whole house hunting process easier as they will take the initiative and set up showings, drive you to appointments and help you handle the intricacies of negotiations.

When you consider all the ways an agent can help you throughout the process, having one by your side can make a huge difference.

Trulia’s latest Price and Rent Monitors showed a big boost in asking prices across the U.S. – up 5.1 percent year-over-year. This a drastic change from the double digit declines of previous years.

The relevant news for your buyer and seller prospects isn’t just that home prices are climbing, but that renting is getting more expensive as well. The statistics showed rents are up 5.2 percent year-over-year.

If you understand supply and demand, it’s obvious that these two facts point toward more real estate moves happening, and that consumers have gotten over the angst of previous years and shifted into the “recovery mindset.”

2. Mortgage rules got a renovation.

Predatory lending practices linger near the top of many economists’ blame lists for the most recent market decline. And, after years of fallout from bad mortgages, capable buyers have been, understandably, slow to purchase.

For those buyers who’ve been anxious about the mortgage process and skeptical of the predatory lending, this Thursday brought great news and a sure “go” sign for them to jump into the market.

Thursday the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released it’s new mortgage guidelines which are “a set of standards that protects consumers from bad loans” according to David Stevens, CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The new guidelines show that banks and the government are working out their differences to create a safer, more secure environment for homeowner hopefuls. In addition, the new guidelines give those buyers access to mortgage best practices upfront to help them ensure they’re ready for application and ownership from the start.

Declining delinquencies aren’t just fluffed headlines, the numbers support what it seems many agents are feeling.

Delinquencies are down. According to Trulia’s Chief Economist, Jed Kolko, “ In November, 10.63% of mortgages were delinquent or in foreclosure, down a hair from 10.64% in October. The combined delinquency + foreclosure rate is at its lowest level in four years and is 41% back to normal.”

These stats are good news for buyer’s agents whose clients and prospects need a boost of confidence.

Housing Indicators for January and February show a good start for Georgia for 2013.

Some key findings include:

New Listings decreased 9 percent

Pending Sales were up 21 percent

Inventory Levels shrank 32 percent

Median Prices rose 28 percent

Average Prices rose 18 percent

Months Supply of Homes for Sale decreased 37 percent

Days on Market decreased 13 percent to 89 days

For the first time since 2006, the numbers regarding Georgia Housing Indicators are largely positive.

New Listings were down 8.9 percent to 11,060. Pending Sales increased 20.8 percent to 8,254. Inventory shrank 32.4 percent to 35,521 units. Prices rallied higher as Median Sales Price was up 28.4 percent to $113,000. Days on Market decreased 12.7 percent to 89 days. Months Supply of Inventory was down 36.5 percent to 4.7 months, indicating that demand increased relative to supply.

It’s important to watch the economy, since job growth directly fuels home purchases and since the housing industry generates jobs. The economy has added about 6.1 million jobs over the past 35 months, a sluggish but encouraging trend. Interest rates are slowly moving higher in some regions, though the affordability picture remains extremely attractive.

Home builders know their business well, it seems. Over the last 4 years, builders have predicted with high accuracy the number of home sales they’ll make 6 months into the future. It’s among the reasons why today’s home buyers should rising homebuilder confidence levels.
Today’s home builders feel as good about their sales prospects as at any time in the last 5 years. Buyers should expect rising home prices through the end of 2012 and into early-2013
Earlier this week, the National Association of Homebuilders released its Housing Market Index for August 2012.
More commonly called as the “Homebuilder Confidence Survey”, the HMI is a composite survey, measuring builder sentiment on three fronts — current home sales, current buyer foot traffic, and projected home sales for the next six months.
As reported by this month’s HMI, home builder homes sale expectations through Q4 2012 and Q1 2013 are at their highest points since early-2007. Low mortgage rates vis-à-vis rising rents have changed the Rent vs Buy relationship in a host of U.S. cities. For many would-be buyers, it’s now less expensive to own a home than to rent one.
Buyer foot traffic is soaring, as are home sales are. New Home Sales volume are currently at a 2-year high on a seasonally-adjusted, annualized basis.

So what about all the Shadow Inventory that was going to ruin the market?

While the shadow is very large, one often-overlooked fact is that the shadow isn’t nearly as large as it was two years ago.
…
Barclays Capital estimates that at the end of May there were around 1.8 million mortgages in the foreclosure process and another 1.45 million where borrowers have missed at least three payments. That puts the total number of properties that could be repossessed and resold by banks at around 3.25 million mortgages.
…
But it is down from a peak of 4.25 million in February 2010.
…
[Housing analyst Ivy Zelman] published an in-depth research note earlier with the title: “Shining a bright light on the shadow: Why what’s lurking doesn’t concern us.” In it, she explains how it’s more important to focus on the pace at which foreclosures are being liquidated, and not the absolute number.

“Just like the Wizard of Oz, shadow inventory is not very intimidating once you pull back the curtain,” the report said.

Home builders know their business well, it seems. Over the last 4 years, builders have predicted with high accuracy the number of home sales they’ll make 6 months into the future. It’s among the reasons why today’s home buyers should rising homebuilder confidence levels.

Today’s home builders feel as good about their sales prospects as at any time in the last 5 years. Buyers should expect rising home prices through the end of 2012 and into early-2013

Earlier this week, the National Association of Homebuilders released its Housing Market Index for August 2012.

More commonly called as the “Homebuilder Confidence Survey”, the HMI is a composite survey, measuring builder sentiment on three fronts — current home sales, current buyer foot traffic, and projected home sales for the next six months.

As reported by this month’s HMI, home builder homes sale expectations through Q4 2012 and Q1 2013 are at their highest points since early-2007. Low mortgage rates vis-à-vis rising rents have changed the Rent vs Buy relationship in a host of U.S. cities. For many would-be buyers, it’s now less expensive to own a home than to rent one.

Buyer foot traffic is soaring, as are home sales are. New Home Sales volume are currently at a 2-year high on a seasonally-adjusted, annualized basis.

So what about all the Shadow Inventory that was going to ruin the market?

While the shadow is very large, one often-overlooked fact is that the shadow isn’t nearly as large as it was two years ago.
…
Barclays Capital estimates that at the end of May there were around 1.8 million mortgages in the foreclosure process and another 1.45 million where borrowers have missed at least three payments. That puts the total number of properties that could be repossessed and resold by banks at around 3.25 million mortgages.
…
But it is down from a peak of 4.25 million in February 2010.
…
[Housing analyst Ivy Zelman] published an in-depth research note earlier with the title: “Shining a bright light on the shadow: Why what’s lurking doesn’t concern us.” In it, she explains how it’s more important to focus on the pace at which foreclosures are being liquidated, and not the absolute number.

“Just like the Wizard of Oz, shadow inventory is not very intimidating once you pull back the curtain,” the report said.